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Editorial: AG should review decision to shield audit

Las Cruces Sun-News

Posted:
08/21/2014 04:11:19 PM MDT

It now seems apparent that Gov. Susana Martinez, even if she wins re-election in November, could be long out of office before the public ever has the opportunity to fully and fairly evaluate her decision to freeze Medicaid funding for mental-health agencies in the state, then turning most over to an Arizona provider.

Last week, District Court Judge Douglas R. Driggers ruled for the second time the audit that was the basis for the decision to freeze funding could remain shielded from public disclosure. The Sun-News and the news organization New Mexico In Depth had sued seeking release of the audit after previous requests filed under the Inspection of Public Records Act had been denied.

Driggers initially ruled in November of last year that the Attorney General's Office could refuse release of the audit until a criminal investigation into the 15 agencies accused of potential fraud was completed.

Attorney General Gary King has told the Sun-News that it could be six years or longer before that investigation is completely wrapped up. Leaving New Mexico residents in the dark for so long on a decision that had such a great impact on some of the most vulnerable residents of our community strikes us as going well beyond what is necessary to protect an ongoing criminal investigation.

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When Driggers originally ruled last year, it was with the understanding that he would review it in several months. Scott Fuqua, a lawyer for the AG, argued last week that little has changed since then. If that's the case, we can't help but wonder why. What have they been doing for the past seven months?

In fact, quite a bit has changed in that time. Easter Seals El Mirador was the second agency cleared by the AG's Office of criminal fraud, only to reopen that case at the request of the Human Services Department.

Beyond that, investigators have had seven more months to examine evidence, chase down leads and determine what, if any, crimes have been committed. It's been well over a year since the decision in June 2013 to freeze funding and turn the investigation over to the AG.

There may have been a legitimate reason to shield information in the audit from public disclosure to protect the investigation during the days immediately following receipt of the audit. But that reason grows less legitimate with each week, month and year that goes by — even as the public's right to know grows stronger.

We are disappointed in Driggers' ruling, but we recognize that the final decision here is in the hands of King. The audit is being shielded from the public because he has made the decision to do so. We encourage him to take a second look, to challenge assertions by his own investigators that any release of information would jeopardize future prosecution and to, at long last, bring a measure of openness and transparency to this process.

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